CUNY Defends Race-Blind Admissions Policies

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The City University of New York’s chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, strongly defended the university’s admissions policies amid reports showing that black enrollment has dipped at three of its top senior colleges.

In an interview with The New York Sun, Mr. Goldstein said the university’s admissions policies are designed to be race-blind and aren’t impervious to fluctuations in minority enrollment.

The policies have “nothing to do about whether the student is black, white, yellow. Those are variables that are not at all considered,” he said. “The important thing is that the university is a welcoming environment with lots of different entry points.”

Between 2001 and 2005 — the four years following CUNY’s adoption of tougher admissions standards — the enrollment of black students at City College fell by 7.5%, at Hunter College by 25%, and at Baruch College by 28.1%. Since 2001, CUNY has seen an overall 1.3% increase in black enrollment at its senior colleges, with a 13.3% increase at Brooklyn College and a 9.3% increase at Queens College.

To critics of CUNY’s academic reforms, the decline in black students is fresh evidence that CUNY is closing its doors to struggling minority groups. A former president of the University Senate faculty governing body and a professor at Kingsborough Community College, Susan O’Malley, called the decreases “troublesome.”

CUNY officials say the total increase in black students is proof that the university is accepting students with a wide range of academic skills without compromising its standards.

Mr. Goldstein said CUNY encourages qualified students to transfer to more competitive schools within the system. “It is really a function of how motivated and how hard they are willing to work to get into the college that was originally their first choice,” he said.

A City Council member whose district includes City College, Robert Jackson, said the black enrollment figures were “terrible,” at that they show “we have done a poor job in educating the children in New York City.”

The enrollment figures were first reported in the New York Times.

According to CUNY’s chief academic officer, Selma Botman, between 2001 and 2005 there was a 10.5% increase in black students transferring into one of CUNY’s senior colleges, and a 10.9% increase in black freshman enrolling in a senior college.

She said the decrease in the three schools could be attributed to a combination of factors, including students choosing to enroll in private universities or to attend school out of state, and students — in light of the September 11, 2001, attacks — choosing to pursue degrees related to security and criminal justice. John Jay College, which is know for its programs in those areas, saw a 2% increase in black student enrollment and a larger increase in applications from black students.


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